When we arrived to Luc’s room tonight, he was already in the midst of his Cares. He was weighed and transferred back into his isolette. He broke the 2 lb. mark for the first time since his birth. We had been looking forward to this milestone. He was taken off of the bilirubin lights earlier in the afternoon and his skin is looking much like a normal baby boy. Also, his feedings have begun again in earnest. He’s now receiving 5 cc’s (about 1 teaspoon) of breast milk every 4 hours. Way to go Luc! His little face is starting to fill out nicely as a result. Kate and I were attempting to identify family features as we looked at him. He definitely has my head and hairline (poor little guy). Kate thinks he has the Hebert head with a McLellan nose- that should be interesting, if true. As we move through the days, he is definitely starting to gain more character both physically and in spirit.

I head back to the office full time tomorrow. It’s been nice to have been by both Kate and Luc’s side during this time, but I think that I am looking forward to getting back into the routine. My work is close to the hospital and I plan on visiting as much as I can.

He is still on the ventilator but the nurses have resumed his feedings which I am happy about.  He continues to hover around 1 lb 15.4 oz.  We are trying to get over that 2 lb mark.  I am returning to work tomorrow.  I have mixed emotions about this, but I think it is for the best.  Luc will be happier to have all my attention when he comes home from the hospital rather than while he is there sleeping and growing.    

In other news… I got to hold Luc for an hour, skin to skin.  They call this practice Kangaroo Care.  Luc really seemed to enjoy it, although I think it was more therapeutic for me than him.  Up until that point I was feeling pretty down.  Nothing like holding your son to get rid of the blues.  It was magical to feel him breath and to feel his little arms and legs move.  Luc had his arm up on my neck squeezing my skin for almost the entire hour.  It was really a miraculous feeling holding my son that close.  I think he and I both needed it… 

After church, we went to the hospital. Kate and I were shocked at what we saw. Luc looked great! We secretly joked that someone had switched out our baby overnight. His skin was looking better and he even looked as if he may have grown a little. It was really nice to see the effects of his well deserved rest taking effect.

Luc had been placed back under the bili light but this was due more to the fact that he had not been eating. One way that preemies expel bilirubins is to poop. Being that he hasn’t been eating, this is completely normal. If all goes well, and Luc continues to look better, they will start feeding him later tonight. Also tonight, the nurse practitioner is to remove the intravenous line in his belly button and replace it with peripherally inserted central catheter or PICC line. The one in his belly has a lifespan of about a week to ten days before it can potentially become infected. So, the staff would like to replace it with a PICC within the next couple of days. We hope all goes well.

We are anticipating a tough week on the home front. Both Kate and I start back at work this week - Kate on Wednesday and me tomorrow. It seems it’s been enough to remember where either of us has placed our heads lately let alone some of the tasks that we’ll have to perform at work. While it will be tough getting back into the groove, we are  looking forward to establishing some sort of a routine again. For starters, we had our first sit down dinner since Luc was born. The weather was nice so we decided to cook out. It was great! I did manage to forget not to touch hot things, though, and burned my fingers quite severely on the grill. Oh well….

I think the operative word for today is rest- for the whole family. 

In other news, Chris arrived in town late tonight. He will be in town for a short spell to offer added support. And we thought Luc looked tired! ;)

Beau, the Grandmothers and I took some time out today from the NICU and headed to Fenway for a baseball game.  We had 4 thickets left over form the Mother’s Day flood and thought it would be nice to take our minds off of the hospital for a couple of hours. Our seats were in the right field grandstands. It was a great game – lots of action. The Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 6-4 and a good time was had by all.  We brought back a Red Sox blanket for Luc to have draped over his isolette once he no longer needs to under the blue lights. 

The most amazing thing happened when we got back to the hospital after the game.  I got to hold Luc.  He was wrapped in about 5 blankets and still had all of his lines and cords hooked up but it was still the single most amazing moment of my life.  I finally got to feel my baby breathing in my arms and for the first time since he was born I felt like a mother, I felt like Luc’s mother.  I got to hold him for about 25 blissful minutes.  During this time Luc had about 3 “spells” where he forgot to breath – this was of course terrifying but the nurses said not worry. This was something that we should expect to happen until abut 35 gestational weeks. I like to think that he was just so comfortable in my arms that I lulled him into such a deep sleep that he just forget to breath…typical mother, huh.  Anyway, it was a day to go down in the record books as one of the best!

In other news, we were able to bring home some used blankets from Luc’s bed. We wanted to start to introduce Sam, Killian, and Max to his scent. They seemed thoroughly uninterested…  

This condition is caused by a duct in the heart that stays open. In utero, this is a normal condition, because of the way blood flows through the body, and the fact that the baby does not need to use his lungs. Once born, however, it can be problematic as the blood does not flow properly through the body and can cause acidosis amongst other things. PDA can be remedied in 1 of 3 ways: 1) all by itself, 2) chemically with a drug called indocin, and 3) surgically. Obviously, the surgical option is last on the list. It’s a common procedure and only lasts about a half an hour, but it’s a last resort as it adds undue stress on the baby and can lead to other complications.

As was noted in the previous entry, Luc had been receiving the chemical treatment of indocin in the hope that it would help to close the duct. A side effect of the indocin is that it reduces circulation to the digestive system. The doctors are not comfortable feeding him breast milk because of this and as a result Luc had lost some more weight (1 lb. 11 oz.). To add to that, has developed acidosis (which we had worried would happen) and has become dehydrate. To counteract this, the doctors ordered a blood transfusion. Taken these collectively, we were starting to worry about our little buddy and were anxiously awaiting he results of the second 2D Echo. A good sonogram would go along way as most of his aliments were falling out of the PDA.

Well, we got the results and the duct is closed! You may be able to imaging the excitement around the house. We had been on pins and needles all evening. We also found out that the transfusion is working and his acidosis is correcting nicely. And now for the trifecta, he gained 43 grams- woo hoo! Needless to say, we will all sleep little better knowing that we have cleared this latest hurdle.

Luc had a good night, no breathing episodes and the color has remained in his toes.  THANK YOU DADDY (Beau).  Luc is now in an isolette which keeps him warmer and makes him more comfortable.  Anything that helps to mimic the environment of the womb is a good thing.  His bilirubin levels are down to 4.1 which is good - the blue lights must be helping. 

Unfortunately the PDA duct in his heart is still open.  It is considered moderate in size so the Doc’s have started a second round of the meds. His electrolytes are also low because they are restricting his fluids in hopes that this will also help in closing the duct.

Luc’s weight has dropped to 805 grams (1 lb 12 oz).  He also had a few breathing episodes in the night and another one early this AM, Luc was able to pull himself out on his own though.

We are home now.  I think I have called about a million times to check on the baby.  The nurses must think I am crazy but it is the only connection I have.  We will check back in again soon.

 The nurse, Jen, one of our favorites told us that Luc would be getting a 2-D Echo to check on the heart murmur.  We are hopeful that it will be closed. None of the nurses has been able to hear it since he started the meds and his pulses are less bounding, which is a good sign. 

Luc’s bilirubin level is at 5 – they say this is good.  Unfortunately we had a mild set back today when the doctors noticed Luc’s toes were “dusky”.  They said that this could have been caused by a restriction of Luc’s blood flow from the meds being used to treat his murmer. It could also be because of a blood clot.  The Doc’s are holding off on the final dose of the meds just in case.  Beau actually held the baby’s foot and his hand acted as a heat source and was able to restore a lot of the color – I always knew he had a healing touch.

5:00pm Cares – I changed his diaper, I think I am getting a little more comfortable.  He has started grasping my fingers and quieting down when I hold his legs and arms.  It has been another long day – Luc seems stable for now but we are all bracing for the “ups and downs” that are inevitable.  Beau and I are exhausted, but our Mom’s have been an amazing source of strength for us.